Stamford Symphony CEO and President, Barbara Soroca, announces Our Next Maestro, the 2017-2018 Audition Season. This transformative time offers many unique opportunities. Six gifted Music Director finalists were chosen among a pool of nearly 200 worldwide applicants. A Music Director search committee comprised of musicians, board members and the CEO viewed resumes and video, and interviewed many candidates before narrowing the search down to the final six below (In the order of appearance next season):

Lidiya Yankovskaya: Artistic Director of Boston New Music Festival and Juventas New Music Ensemble, Music Director of Commonwealth Lyric Theatre, Guest Chorus Master for numerous programs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Tanglewood Festival Chorus), and Conductor for Boston Youth Orchestra. Ms. Yankovskaya has a BA in music and philosophy from Vassar College and an MM in conducting from Boston University. She is also the recipient of Marin Alsop’s Taki Concordia Fellowship Program and Dallas Opera Institute for Women Conductors Program.

Daniel Hege: Music Director of the Wichita Symphony and Principal Guest Conductor of the Tulsa Symphony and the Binghamton (NY) Symphony. He has a BA in music and history from Bethel College, Kansas and an MM in orchestra conducting from the University of Utah. Mr. Hege has an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Le Moyne College in Syracuse for his contributions to cultural life in the State of New York when he was Music Director for the Syracuse Symphony.

Eckehard Stier: Chief Conductor of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra from 2009-2015. Currently, he enjoys Guest Conductor Opportunities at the London Symphony, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Dresdner Philharmonie, the Staatskapelle Halle and the Munich Symphony Orchestra, among others. Mr. Stier is the first prize winner of the Rudolf Mauersberger scholarship.

David Lockington: Music Director of the Modesto Symphony and the Pasadena Symphony. He is also an Artistic Partner with the Northwest Sinfonietta (Tacoma, WA). He previously the Music Director of the Grand Rapids Symphony from 1999-2015. Mr. Lockington has a BA from the University of Cambridge (UK) where he was a choral scholar. He also has an MM from Yale University in Cello Performance. While at Yale, he also studied conducting with Otto Werner Mueller.

Paul Watkins: Music Director of the English Chamber Orchestra and enjoys being the Guest Conductor for all the major British orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony and the BBC Symphony. He is also an accomplished cellist and is a member of the Emerson String Quartet and part of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Rei Hotoda: Associate Conductor of the Utah Symphony. She also enjoys guest conducting with Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Fort Worth, Jacksonville, Utah and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, among others. Ms. Hotoda studied conducting with Gustav Meier at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. She holds a DMA in piano performance from the University of Southern California, and BMus in piano performance from the Eastman School of Music. She is also the recipient of Marin Alsop’s Taki Concordia Fellowship Program and received the Peabody Career Development Grant, the Women’s Philharmonic Scholarship and an Illinois Arts Council International Arts Exchange Grant.

Highlights of the 2017-2018 Season:
As the 2017-2018 Season is a year of auditions, each of the Music Director Finalists will showcase their skill, passion and creativity with individually selected repertoire. The season promises to deliver music that will please and satisfy as we participate together in experiencing, interacting and sharing our thoughts after each concert. Audience participation is important as we build the future for Stamford Symphony.

Stamford Symphony welcomes back favorite guest artists who were discovered as young emerging artists as well as some new artists.
Hear again the brilliance of Stefan Jackiw, violin, Joshua Roman, cello and Benjamin Beilman, violin and meet Orion Weiss, piano and Cecile Licad, piano.
In addition to the orchestral concerts, Stamford Symphony presents two noteworthy limited engagements to Fairfield County:
A professional holiday performance of Handel’s Messiah at the acoustically pleasing Basilica of St. John the Evangelist, in Stamford.
Piano Recital with critically acclaimed, Stephen Hough.

Not a single concert should be missed this season as Stamford Symphony and our concertgoers embark on the journey to choose the next podium leader.

Subscriptions go on sale starting June 1, 2017. Please call Stamford Symphony at 203.325.1407, x10 if you are interested in purchasing a subscription for the full season (5-7 concerts). Single tickets will go on sale July 1, 2017. They will be available via the box office at 203.325.4466 or online at www.stamfordsymphony,org.
DETAILED 2017-2018 PROGRAM:
October 14 & 15, 2017
Tchaikovsky & Rimsky-Korsakov: Opening Weekend
Guest Conductor: Lidiya Yankovskaya
Glinka Ruslan & Lyudmilla: Overture
Rimsky Korsakov Symphony No. 1 in E-flat Major
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major, Stefan Jackiw, violin